The present invention relates to the general field of storage accessories and is particularly concerned with a tire stand.
There are many situations where it may be desirable to store tires in a generally upright configuration. One of such situations relates to the displaying of tires for retail sales or the like. Another situation is commonly seen during the changing of tires of trucks and cars where it is sometimes desirable to secure the tire in a proximate and upright relationship with the car so as to facilitate and expedite the tire changing operation.
Still another common situation where it may be desirable to secure the tire in a generally upright configuration, relates to the general storage of tires between seasons. Indeed, in most areas where seasons bring about different driving conditions, such as in North America, where so-called winter tires are used during the winter to provide a better grip on snow and ice and so-called summer tires are used the remainder of the year.
It is often desirable to store the off-seasons tires in such a manner that they occupy minimal storage space. Regardless of the reason why the tire must be supported in a generally upright condition away from the vehicle, it is also desirable that the tire be adequately supported so as to reduce the risk of deforming or otherwise damaging the tire.
The prior art offers some examples of structures adapted to secure a tire in a generally upright position. In general, prior art developments with respect to such structures have taken two somewhat different approaches. One approach is represented by stands which generally grasp a tire or other such article proximate a lower portion thereof such as to provide a support proximate a seating surface for the article to be supported.
Stands of this type however suffer from numerous drawbacks including the fact that they are generally not amenable to the display of articles of different sizes. Furthermore, the gripping of a tire or other toroidal objects solely about a lower portion when in a generally upright position, tends to provide a decided lack of stability. The other approach to the supporting of generally toroidal articles has been to suspend them in some manner about a hook or other retaining device which is in some manner positioned a distance above a floor or other seating surface. Stand of this type have generally exhibited a number of problems in commercial applications.
In order to withstand the weight of certain types of toroidal articles, these stands have often employed relatively massive structures which prove to be structurally cumbersome. In addition, many of these devices are not capable of being collapsed or at least collapsing to an essentially planar form such that temporary storage or transposition become significant problems.
In other instances, this type of device has proven to be somewhat unstable due to the characteristics of the materials employed in the construction or because of the inherent structure of the device.
Accordingly, the various prior approaches to stands for the suspension of generally toroidal article has not produced a device which has achieved broad commercial acceptance. Hence, there exists a need for an improved toroidal article stand.
Advantages of the present invention include the fact that the proposed stand is specifically adapted to support a tire or other toroidal articles in a generally upright position away from a ground surface. The proposed stand is specifically designed so as to support the tire in such a manner as to reduce the risk of altering or damaging the said tire.
Furthermore, the proposed stand is designed so as to be relatively stable even when the tire is mounted thereon. The proposed stand is further designed so as to be collapsible when not in use, thus reducing the need for storage space.
Still further, the proposed stand is particularly well suited to store a pair of tires in an overlying relationship relative to each other thus making better use of storage space.
The proposed stand is designed to allow for ergonomic installation and retrieval of the tires into and out of the stand. Furthermore, the proposed stand is specifically designed to be manufacturable using conventional components and conventional forms of manufacturing in order to provide a toroidal object stand which will be economical feasible, long lasting and relatively trouble free in operation.